My Librarian is a Camel: How Books are Brought to Children Around the World is one of the Young Hoosier Book Award books for 2008-2009. In this photo essay, Margriet Ruurs gives students a view of unusual mobile libraries and how they provide kids in remote areas with books. In the book, and also on her website, Margriet Ruurs promotes literacy combined with service learning, encouraging students to learn more about these countries and how they can help.
Ryan Dashner, the Mariental Library Camel
I had just finished reading My Librarian is a Camel when I read an email which was sent by Ryan Dashner, a former Washington,Indiana 5th grade teacher and currently a Peace Corp volunteer in Namibia. I thought "Is Ryan the Library Camel, or WHAT?"
In the email, Ryan explains the need for quality children's literature at the Mariental, Namibia public library. Hisproposal is for classroom teachers to engage their students in donating "slightly used books" and raising money to pay for the books to be shipped to Ryan in Mariental. He will help process and shelve the books at the library. Ryan's goal with this project is to increase literacy amongst the young Mariental population, and in turn give them the gift to be able to educate themselves in the future.
"I feel that this would be a great project for your class to get involved with and if you are interested I would love to email with your class, sharing information about the people, culture, and schools of Namibia. By participating in this project with me, your class will be helping promote literacy to the more than 3,000 local children in Mariental (most of whom have never owned a book and many that do not attend school)."
With his project, Ryan is not only promoting literacy in Africa. He is also providing students in Indiana with the opportunity to read and write about the history and culture of Namibia, Africa; learn about service learning; problem-solve ways to raise money to ship the books; how to collect the books; write about and share their ideas and procedures with classmates, fellow Hoosier students and teachers.
I plan to create a school/class blog so my students can share their findings about literacy, Namibia, Mariental, their service learning project, the Peace Corp, or other pertinent topics for discussion. I hope that many more teachers will create and class blog for this purpose. If you are hesitant, like I was at first, you can manage a blog so approve student comments before they are posted, and you will have control over who can post a comment. I created a tutorial, Class Blog Tutorial, to show you how to create accounts for students at Edublogs.org, so that you are notified by email when a student has a comment for your approval.
And as a way of thanking Ryan and Brooke Dashner for all their hard work on this library project, please make a contribution to the Project Participants page, telling about your experience with the library project.
Ryan Dashner, the Mariental Library Camel
I had just finished reading My Librarian is a Camel when I read an email which was sent by Ryan Dashner, a former Washington, Indiana 5th grade teacher and currently a Peace Corp volunteer in Namibia. I thought "Is Ryan the Library Camel, or WHAT?"
In the email, Ry a n explains the need for quality children's literature at the Mariental, Namibia public library. His proposal is for classroom teachers to engage their students in donating "slightly used books" and raising money to pay for the books to be shipped to R yan in Mariental. He will help process and shelve the books at the library. Ryan's goal with this project is to increase literacy amongst the young Mariental population, and in turn give them the gift to be able to educate themselves in the future."I feel that this would be a great project for your class to get involved with and if you are interested I would love to email with your class, sharing information about the people, culture, and schools of Namibia. By participating in this project with me, your class will be helping promote literacy to the more than 3,000 local children in Mariental (most of whom have never owned a book and many that do not attend school)."
With his project, Ryan is not only promoting literacy in Africa. He is also providing students in Indiana with the opportunity to read and write about the history and culture of Namibia, Africa; learn about service learning; problem-solve ways to raise money to ship the books; how to collect the books; write about and share their ideas and procedures with classmates, fellow Hoosier students and teachers.
I plan to create a school/class blog so my students can share their findings about literacy, Namibia, Mariental, their service learning project, the Peace Corp, or other pertinent topics for discussion. I hope that many more teachers will create and class blog for this purpose. If you are hesitant, like I was at first, you can manage a blog so approve student comments before they are posted, and you will have control over who can post a comment. I created a tutorial, Class Blog Tutorial, to show you how to create accounts for students at Edublogs.org, so that you are notified by email when a student has a comment for your approval.
These wiki pages include Ryan's proposal as he describes it in an email to the principals in Washington, Detailed Directions for shipping which I've added some notes to, a document about Namibian History for U.S. Schools, which Ryan attached in an email to me, and pictures from Mariental, Namibia.
And as a way of thanking Ryan and Brooke Dashner for all their hard work on this library project, please make a contribution to the Project Participants page, telling about your experience with the library project.